Yesterday's Gone
by NetherVoidWanderer
Summary: Finally back from an extensive mission made to look like betrayel Sasuke realizes that more has changed than just the months and years. What happened to everyone's innocence? Where did childhood go? And is he really a prude?
1. Prude

Like most things it had started out as a game and had been built up from there. Sometimes it would be simple; see who could get a boy's phone number first, who could get a date with a boy who had specific features i.e. brown hair, gray eyes, non-shinobi etcetera. The game had started after the village heart throb had bailed on them and they'd suddenly realized that there were other guys around them. When asked about it by their friends and senseis' it was passed it off as honing their kunoichi skills. Whether the aforementioned senseis' and friends actually believed them was really not their concern. Training, that was their story and they were sticking to it.

Maybe it was to prove how powerful they were without blood shed. Maybe it was one of the few childish games they could still get away with. Maybe it was their way of dealing with time.

At seventeen they were- and had been for sometime- considered full adults, not because they'd been sexually 'active' since fifteen, and not because they owned their own homes (apartments) but because time moved differently for shinobi. At the age of five the children had entered into classes on basic stealth, tools, and weapons handling. Kunoichi training for the girls and a muscle conditioning class for the boys. At ten the kids would have their own kunai and/or shuriken and possibly be taught (or already learning) family jutsu's. At twelve they were official shinobi (usually). Most of the kids had killed before they even hit puberty.

Childhood was a luxury few to no shinobi could afford to have; a 'happy' childhood was something of dreams. Though most childhoods weren't amazing, spectacular, sugar coated wonderlands of fun and love most weren't hellish blood letting nightmares either. (Though the latter was far more common than the former.) Shinobi simply couldn't afford to have the naivety of childhood past their academy days; after all, the general goal for a shinobi is to die young as late as possible. Silly as it sounds the idea foregoes all records of humanity, back to the days when demons and creatures of far more ancient blood ruled the land.

But as previously mentioned… time moves differently for shinobi and age is a high price to pay for maturity.

Was that it?

Was that the explanation to their games?

So childish yet so elaborate?

Their selfish, self imposed kunoichi training?

Seducing men both unfamiliar and well known with some flirty looks and a few choice words?

Of course it was more than that. More than just games, more than just subtly asserting their power over men, and more than them trying to get their jollies for the night. It was a science. They used scent to lure their prey to them; subtle mixes of blood, sweat, and fire. These three things appealed to the primal part of the target's brain. The sweat contained natural pheromones that elicited a degree of arousal to the opposite sex. The blood appealed to the targets 'inner hunter' and triggered excitement. The fire was for a sense of warmth, companionship, and comfort. They usually wore their hair up so that the throat was visible; semi tight shirts that drew attention but weren't too revealing, skirts, pants, and shorts that made the legs look long and appealing.

Of course the whole clothing thing was far more obvious and they'd been using the appeal of the body for several years. While it had not attracted the heart throb's attention other males had noticed and had responded accordingly. Though those males' attempts at the courting ritual were shot to hell, burned, buried, and forgotten, accordingly.

But now? Well now the courting ritual was taken with a far more serious mind than the kunoichi had previously given to the suitors. Of course the homelier boys' affections were shot to hell, burned, buried and forgotten. Accordingly, of course.

But of the few who garnered enough favor with the women were lucky to be called upon for more than a few dates and physical pleasure. Sadly that was the price to pay, and when the heartthrob left so did some of the girls' interest in anything long term. Though the passion ran high, it ran short and more than one man was tossed out. (Sometimes literally).

Imagine the shock and confusion when the heart throb came back. The initial response was to stay away from him as if he'd been quarantined for a pox. Though after a period of almost exactly one week. And the public announcement of his defect being merely part of an extensive mission, some began shifting back into their old habits, sort of.

The first woman to do so was in fact his former teammate. Though it was far from what he'd grown used to. A small smile, a relieved look in her eye and several -calm- words about her happiness that his mission was successful. And that was it. Well aside from an 'I'll see you around, I guess' followed by a wave and she turned away. She turned away… she turned away? He was both confused and relieved at her response. No tears, no attempts at physical contact, no 'I was so worried about you' just casual small talk.

The second and third females he ran into had been in a conversation together, and though he recognized only one of them, both had offered up polite 'I'm glad your mission was successful' remarks before walking on and continuing their conversation.

While both relieved that he'd been in the village for a month and wasn't accosted in some alleyway by a random group of inebriated girls (a rather common experience in his younger days) he was rather …unsettled… by the drastic changes in the female populaces' behavior. Growing more and more curious with each passing day he finally confronted one he could trust about the situation.

"Well… yeah." He said running fingers through his messy blonde hair. "It started out slow, right? And then it kind of snowballed it when everybody hit fifteen… it just sort of… exploded." Naruto made what Sasuke assumed was an exploding gesture and continued with his briefing of the changes over Sasuke's absence. "It's kinda hard to explain if you weren't there…" The blonde groped for the right words then his expression lit up. "Have you ever read any of the Icha Icha Paradise books?" The glare he received made Naruto hold up his hands in self defense. "Ok ok… jeez… look here." Rummaging around under a pile of clothes on the stove Naruto pulled out a book and tossed it to Sasuke. "Chapter six, page two eighty two, fourth paragraph. Stop when Kimiko mentions a cow, two flamethrowers, a crowbar, and the jelly beans. It gets kinda…freaky…after that." Naruto said as the dark haired boy caught the book, quirked an eyebrow and thumbed through to the indicated pages.

Naruto bit his cheek to prevent himself from bursting out with laughter as Sasuke's face got redder and redder with each sentence he read until the boy finally closed the book, set it down on the only open space on the table, and gave Naruto a rather distressed look.

"Wh-what did _any_ of that perverted garble have to do with what's been happening… around…" The dark haired boy cut himself off as realization came. Naruto merely nodded. "I… it… they…" Again Naruto nodded. "And th-the…the piercing…?" Naruto chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"Yeah… Hinata has one actually." Sasuke blinked in disbelief. They'd been doing things like… like what was in the book…

"A-and th-the thing with the… the whips?" Naruto let out a laugh.

"Sakura and Ino actually dragged me into a leather bar last night, it had a stage with stuff like that on it. I didn't let them talk me into going up there but they got Shino to go up instead-" Sasuke wasn't listening any more, do to the fact that his mind was busy reeling in horror. Not so much that Shino was in a leather bar but that Sakura; who'd always been so quick to blush and condemn Naruto and Kakashi as perverts would have to _drag_ Naruto into a place like that.

He was brought back to the present by a simple sentence "-and I didn't know Ino could get her leg that far behind her head."

"What the Hell?" Sasuke said, loudly, before Naruto could launch into another story. "What the Hell happened to make everybody into… into… perverts!" The blonde was taken aback by Sasuke's loss of his calm demeanor.

"What? The kinky stuff usually only happens before somebody goes off on a mission, you know, in case they die or something. Otherwise it's mostly just sex."

"_Just sex?_" Sasuke stood quickly and then went off on a tangent, most of which Naruto didn't even pay attention to. It was a few minutes in before Sasuke noticed Naruto's rather evil smile and slowed his rant to a halt. "What are you grinning at dobe?" Not even fazed Naruto leaned in close to Sasuke and the smile became far more sinister.

"Ya know… I don't know why you're making such a big deal out of sex. Unless-" Sasuke knew where this conversation would lead and tried to cut Naruto off.

"Shut up dobe."

"You're a…"

"Don't say it. Don't even _think_ it."

"Virgin." He said it in a sing-song way and promptly had to dodge a fist. "Ha ha! I knew it! Sasuke's a Virgin! Sasuke's a Virgin!" The blonde leapt around his apartment continuing the 'Sasuke's a Virgin' mantra in a sing-song tone as he dodged fists and the occasional kunai. "How does it feel to be the last Virgin of the rookie nine?" The blonde asked as he caught his friend's fist and the dark eyed boy faltered as the full implication of what Naruto had just said hit him.

"Th-the…last?" The smile wasn't as evil as it had been, more of a 'not-so-nice-intentions' smile really, but the words that followed could definitely have been classified as malevolent.

"Oh yeah… Chouji got some too." He released Sasuke's fist, seeing as the statement had diffused him. "You missed out on a lot Sasuke." And Naruto turned away from the boy. The Uchiha boy shook his head slightly, giving Naruto's back a 'no-fucking-duh' expression.

"How… how long has… _this_... been going on for?" The blonde paused, tilted his head slightly and glanced over his shoulder at Sasuke.

"What? Everyone from childhood becoming sexual deviants?" He said it so casually it made Sasuke blanch mentally. "Runnin' on the later half of two years."

"And you… agree… with what everyone's doing?" Ugh. So many questions. Naruto rolled his eye but replied.

"Hey, everybody's happy." And that thought left Sasuke to do what he did (does) best. Brood.

_…and this little piggy went 'brood, brood, brood, all the way home._

How long had he been laying there contemplating everything he'd learned. What happened? Where had his childhood gone? Where had _their_ childhoods gone? Had they ever existed in the first place?

…

A hand covered his eyes and he grunted. This was stupid. He was getting upset over a childhood and an innocence that never existed.

But the question remained…

Whose innocence and childhood was he mourning?


	2. Sexual Deviants

"Didn't she snub you when she saw you were back?" Naruto asked tapping Sasuke playfully on the shoulder. Naruto was trying to get a rise out of him, he knew that all too well so the Uchiha boy merely shrugged and stayed silent. Naruto was still annoying but… he wasn't as hyper. The boy was much more relaxed and the annoying-ness seemed to be merely to piss Sasuke off. When had Naruto gotten calm? A voice in Sasuke's head stated, in a blatant manner, 'regular sex'll do that for a guy ya prude.' Sasuke grimaced. Was he a prude?

No… he told himself angrily. Just because he didn't jump in the sack with some random girl every night did _not _make him a prude. And looking up he realized that they were outside of an apartment door that Naruto was banging on and yelling.

"SAKURA-CHAAAAAAAAAAAN! OPEN UP!" There was swearing on the other side and the door swung open sharply leaving Sasuke to stare in a startled manner at Hyuuga Neji wearing only a bed sheet around his waist and hickies on his chest.

"For fuck sake Uzumaki do you have to be so damn loud!" With that Neji turned around, went back inside and an unfazed Naruto pushed Sasuke in and closed the door. "Sakura," Neji said turning towards a doorway. "Your teammates are here." He emphasized the plural.

"Teamates?" There was a scrabbling noise, followed by Ino and Sakura emerging from the doorway, the blonde haired one wearing a bed sheet toga similar to Neji's and the pink haired one wearing a bra and male boxer shorts. "Why are you two here?" She looked at Sasuke when she said that. "You didn't have to let Naruto drag you over here with him." That time she looked at the blonde boy who was digging through her fridge.

"Meh." Naruto said drinking directly from a carton of milk then putting it back. "I thought we'd all go out for a few nice big bowls of ramen and catch up on things." He paused for a moment with a rather egotistical glint in his eye. "It looks like you two wore Neji out. He might not be able to complete his mission without passing out." Sasuke quirked an eyebrow. That was rather… harsh.

"Well at least it doesn't take Neji two hours to get an erection." Ino said with a grin that was somewhere between sinister and playful. Despite not being involved in the conversation at all Sasuke felt very, _very _uncomfortable. But Naruto merely laughed and drank some more milk. Sakura rolled her eyes but there was a small smile on her lips.

"Anyway… I think ramen is a good idea Naruto. Just let me get changed." The pink haired girl wandered back into the bedroom followed by Ino then Neji and the door shut. Muffled words and some giggling came from the other side of the door followed by a shriek and Sakura saying 'No teeth'. Sasuke looked at Naruto with a severely quirked eyebrow and Naruto shrugged.

Apparently this was a normal occurrence.

_Awkward is as awkward does._

The silence at the counter was uncomfortable.

For Sasuke.

Which irritated him to no end. And then it got a whole lot more uncomfortable thanks to the idiot.

"Sasuke's a virgin." Where the Hell had that come from? There had been no lead up to it, no subtle hinting just a 'bam' and Sasuke was sorely tempted to stab his chopsticks into Naruto's eyes. But… worse than that was Sakura's reaction. She… she… _laughed._ And not one of her annoying giggles but a real, unwomanly laugh from her diaphragm and he was convinced he heard her snort.

"Really Sasuke?" She stifled a chuckle and gave him an amused smile that he promptly looked away from. Sakura burst into another fit of laughter and was joined by a few chuckles from Naruto. That was it. One idiot laughing at him was enough but both of them… that just twisted his pride and ego in too many different directions. He stood abruptly muttered about leaving but before he could even think about moving away Sakura forced him back onto the stool and turned towards him with a very serious expression. "Sasuke. Why are you so upset about this? Sex isn't that important."

Oh yeah, that coming from a raging whore.

Taken aback by the viciousness of the thought Sasuke was unbelievably glad that he didn't blurt out everything that came to mind.

"Unless you're not getting' any." Naruto chimed in between mouthfuls of ramen. Jeezus. When had Naruto gotten to be such a bastard? Sakura turned to face Naruto and, for a moment, he thought she was going to start screaming at the blonde and beating him over the head with a ramen bowl. But she leaned against him and started laughing. Again.

"I'm leaving." The Uchiha said standing up quickly only to be forced back into the seat. Again. Mentally he swore, on the outside he remained perfectly calm.

"Oh for fuck sake Sasuke lighten up. You know he's just baiting you." The Haruno said in a 'grow-the-fuck-up' tone that left him more than a little stunned. Both of them were just full of surprises it seemed. "Why does it bother you so much?" He closed his eyes, and took in several deep breaths delicately choosing his words. After several moments he opened his mouth to speak but was interrupted by Sakura getting yanked out of her chair and into an embrace.

"Kiba!" She sounded so… happy as she threw her arms around his neck and shoved her lips against his in a rather passionate –and public- display of affection.

They broke apart after a good two minutes of obscene making out –in public-.

"Hey Naruto." Kiba said his arm around Sakura's waist, not even seeming to of acknowledged Sasuke's existence. It was strange. He'd spent to better half of his life trying to be left alone and now that they were finally complying… no… he was _not_ going to admit that he missed the arduous way people had looked at him. That was fucking ridiculous.

Though… being ignored… that really sucked.

"…Sasuke." He looked up at Sakura who was watching him, as were Kiba and Naruto, and the Uchiha boy suddenly felt in the spotlight so, for lack of a better response, he nodded and felt dumb. There was silence and it was then broken by something that seemed to be the topic of interest as of late.

"Sasuke's a virgin."

His sexual adventures. Or more importantly, lack thereof. Why Naruto felt the need to bring it up every five seconds, he had no idea, but Sasuke felt entirely justified when he turned the bowl of ramen Naruto had been eating upside down on his head. The blonde swore, Kiba let out a raucous laugh and Sasuke couldn't tell if it was directed at himself or Naruto.

He walked away and this time Sakura didn't stop him.


	3. Closure

It pissed him off. It really did. And what pissed him off more was that he didn't know _what _pissed him off the most.

They'd changed. All of them had. They'd all gone and grew up… without him. They'd left him behind.

Sasuke flopped face first onto his bed, his level of pissed off-ness rising more and more due to the fact that there was absolutely _nothing _he needed to be pissed off about.

Except for the fact that he was not only an easily forgettable prude with no childhood to speak of but that… that _they_ had left him behind. And why? Why? So he'd been gone for awhile, so what? Hadn't they made promises to him? Separately and as a team? Did promises mean so little to them? Did he mean so little to them?

Fuck.

Stupid thoughts. Stupid emotions and over reactions. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Why was he so damn upset and letting something so… so… _stupid _drive him crazy!

The more he thought about it the more pissed off he got and the more pissed off he got the more he thought.

A vicious cycle.

So vicious that he was going to go to Sakura's apartment, kick the door in and demand an explanation from her.

He got about halfway there when he realized that doing so would A.) Make him look like a lunatic. B.) Further alienate him from Sakura, and Naruto, when he found out. And C.) Probably result in the same awkwardness –and possible humiliation- as when he went over there with Naruto, only differences would be no idiot, and Kiba instead of Neji. That and Ino may or may not be present.

His frantic, angered running slowed to a stunned halt and then a 'I-can't-believe-I-almost-did-that' dismayed sprawl to the ground. What did he hope to accomplish? What could possibly be gained by busting into Sakura's home and screaming at her like it was her fault he felt like he did?

God he felt pathetic. Sasuke slumped forward slightly and stared at the ground. What was he supposed to do? He wanted… he wanted something from her and he wasn't entirely sure what.

And then, like a conveniently placed segue, he heard a voice.

"Sasuke?" He blinked, head turning slowly to see Sakura… huddled under an umbrella wearing a corset, 'fuck me' boots, fishnets and not much else. He blinked several more times. Why did she have an umbrella? Oh… it was raining. That made sense. "Sasuke… what are you doing?" His mouth opened and for awhile nothing came out.

"…thinking." He managed feebly. And she smiled. It wasn't overzealous or insincere or girly or anything like that. Just a small, friendly, innocent smile that clashed horribly with the hooker garb she was wearing.

"Would you like to think somewhere dry? With coffee?" She held out a lace clad hand and Sasuke didn't realize he grabbed it until he was on his feet under her girly umbrella walking hand in hand with her towards her apartment.

_Some things are better left unsaid. _

"Make yourself comfy." She said shaking the loose water off of her umbrella before leaning it next to the door. "I gotta change out of this before I suffocate." Sakura said beginning to undo her corset as she walked towards her bedroom with a confident fluidity he'd never seen in her before. She didn't even close the door behind her. Not that he was looking or anything but he _did_ catch a glimpse of her walking fully nude from one side of the room to the other. She either didn't realize he would be looking or didn't care and Sasuke seriously doubted the former.

It, the feeling that she didn't care if he saw her naked or not, brought back his roiling pissed off-ness. Did she think so little of her body that she'd just go and show it to anybody and everybody? Didn't she have any respect for herself? The tawdry slut...

"Sasuke." His attention snapped to Sakura and he caught the clothes she threw at him in reflex as opposed to actual thought. "Some dry clothes." She said crossing her arms and smiling. "Don't want you catching a cold now do we?" The small friendly smile didn't clash with her gray t-shirt and pajama bottoms. At least not as much as her Goth slut outfit had.

"...thanks." He mumbled and silence reigned for a minute.

"Aren't you going to change?" A rather serpentine and strangely seductive grin was on her face that would've gone perfectly with her fishnets.

"Privacy would be nice." She laughed and walked into her kitchen making a point of keeping her back to him. Figuring that was as much privacy as he was going to get Sasuke peeled his shirt and pants off.

"Did you want coffee? Tea? Water? Chunky milk?" The last one made him pause for a moment mid way through pulling the white t-shirt on.

"Coffee's fine." He heard himself say as he completed the task of clothing himself and wandered into the kitchen.

"Have a seat." She offered not looking away from the cupboard she was rooting through and not wanting to be difficult -for once in his life- Sasuke took what she offered and sat down. Several minutes later she removed the oldest coffee maker Sasuke had ever seen and plugged the ancient thing in unconcerned about the wires poking through the plastic in several places. "So Sasuke." She flopped down next to him and the smile was a dangerously playful one. "What's on your mind?" The look on his face was not a trusting one nor were the thoughts running through his head.

What could she possibly want from him? Friendship? Pah, she'd offered that to him on several occasions and he'd all but spat at her. Sex? No... she already had plenty of guys -and probably girls- to answer her every beck and call. So what? What else was there?

"Sakura... why are you doing this? We're not children anymore." They both knew that the second statement left several things unsaid but understood. She gave him a sad, pitying smile and Sasuke had a sudden, violent, urge to smash her table against the wall.

"Sasuke." She reached out to touch him and he jerked back as if he was afraid of contracting cooties from her. The smile got sadder. "The day you left, I meant every word I said to you. I may not love you the way I once did but I still love you. Not matter what happens, to either of us, I will always love you and Naruto. You both mean more to me than you'll ever know." She paused to let that sink in. "I wish you could be as open with me as you are with Naruto. I know... that in the past... as well meant as my ah... 'affections' were, they really only succeeded in alienating us. I hope this isn't too little too late but..." Another pause, this time he could see her mentally groping for the right wording. "...but can we be friends? There's still a lot of things... a lot of... of feelings I have to sort out, but I want us to be friends."

And suddenly it all came crashing down on him, what he'd wanted from her since he'd learned of her sexcapades.

Closure.

How convenient that she was offering it to him.

A warm, fuzzy feeling like cheese in the sun rumbled around in his stomach and he offered her an actual, genuine smile.

"Sure, Sakura."


End file.
